Sticks and Stones
by l-Arri-l
Summary: Revised version of Forbid-Erins life has been complicated since she was born, being tormented in school, abused by her druggy parents..That is until she meets Ian McKinley. Their life until both of their deaths in Final Destination 3..Please review. :D
1. Chapter 1

**So, just Wednesday I saw the movie Final Destination 3 on my TV; and I decided to create a story about my favorite couple from the movie. I've researched Ian and Erin a little bit over Google, because there weren't many fanfictions about them that describe their personality—and I think I got the slightest clue. Correct me if I'm wrong.. Don't forget to review. **

…**.**

_Chapter 1_

_New beginning_

Echoing throughout the small house, were the yelling swears and cusses of both male and female vocals, carrying to the teenagers room as clear as day. Dawn displayed itself through the closed windows, making itself known and darkening the charcoal room despite the moons pointless glow. The young adult wore a scowl as she laid back onto her bedspread, glaring at the ceiling as if it was the cause of her parents daily quarrel.

How in god's name could she get some damn sleep around here?

Erin contemplated her options as soon as her drunken father had walked through the door: sneak out…IPod…nothing else. If she were to sneak out, she'd have her ass handed to her once again- besides, where would she even go? That was out of the picture.

"No, fuck you Richard! This is my house, my rules! You drunk bastard!" her mother's hoarse shout barreled into her ear drums. Grumbling, Erin snatched her IPod from the nightstand, turning on W.T.P by Eminem and swiveling the middle circle to turn the volume up; drowning herself in the music and blocking out the harsh reality of the world. She twisted to her side painfully and expired a sigh.

"Someone just kill me?" she murmured to herself, and with that, Erin had finally closed her eyes.

…**.**

From a bitter sweet dream she awoke, the side of her face stuffed in her pillow and deep purple comforter over her petite body. The alarm clocks nasty ring had jolted her from sleep, bringing her back to the reality that was her bedroom. She mumbled something under her breath, the vocalization becoming muffled at the position in which her visage was in. In attempt to return to the fantasy she was enjoying (strangely enough) she pulled her covers close and buried her face in her pillow with a soft, exhausted moan.

She barely noticed her IPod was gone.

Minutes passed and she still continued to hear the commotion downstairs and the annoying chirps outside the window. Finally, she threw her comforter quite fiercely and swung her legs over the side of her mattress. Sighing, she glanced at the clock and let her face fall to her cupped hands, rubbing her eyes afterward. Albeit, despite her drowsiness, she noticed the alarm faintly buzzing beside her pillow; rather annoying. She slammed her hand on the device and pressed the snooze button to shut the thing up.

"Erin, get your ass up, school is in ten fucking minutes!" her mother's voice protruded from the kitchen harshly. Visibly, she flinched and got up, grabbing a pair of deep blue jeans and tugging them off. She removed her tank top next, rummaging through her dresser and pulling on a black long-sleeved V-neck with a green undershirt-something new-after deodorizing. She grasped her charcoal hoodie from the bed post and slipped it over her shirt beside the weather, slowly making her way to the bathroom.

One simple glance at her reflection in the mirror made her want to scream out in frustration. "Look at you, you stupid ugly whore." She mimicked what her mother would say to her on occasion, grasping the make-up from her counter and rimming her eyes with a deep black coat of eyeliner; soon after adding thick mascara to her eyelashes. Erin scowled as she combed her wavy, ginger hair, frankly disgusted at her looks. Her mother was partially right the whole time. Though she had received complements about how skinny she was, and how she was beautiful...she highly doubted the words. Sad part was…she wasn't always like this.

Her nose crinkled immediately as she exited the washroom and made her way to the kitchen, her father no where to be seen. Most likely upstairs sleeping still, even though he had work in less than 30 minutes. The whole household smelt like alcohol, the stench streaming about the usually polluted domain. As if she didn't already have enough of a headache. Her father an alcholic, and her mother a messed up drug addict. Like her step father was.

A counter under the sink held most of the breakfast foods-cereal, granola bars, so on- which was where she headed first. She wasn't very picky, being she inhabited that from her father, and didn't waste a large amount of time choosing her quick meal. Erin pushed back a cereal box to grasp a granola bar, the apple cinnamon ones she consistently ate. She fumbled with the wrapper, maneuvering to take a small bite of the bar within her grasp. Her mother sneered, waddling in with a fresh cup of coffee. "You're just eating now? Look at the time, Erin! If you're late, your father will throw a damn fit." She halted and glanced at her mother, Denise, releasing a rather frustrated huff and taking another bite of the food. She chose her words carefully, over-thinking what to say to avoid getting a slap in the face. Quietly she chewed, finishing half of the small granola bar before tossing it in the garbage can, the item landing at the bottom of the metal cylinder with a soft clunk.

"He already has enough; it wouldn't really make a difference." She grumbled in response. "And I don't consider him my father anymore." She added shortly after, grabbing her satchel and slinging the strap over her shoulder. Whilst she waited for Denise to reply she easily slipped on her converse sneakers and licked her lips, snatching her schedule from the dining room table; weaving towards the refrigerator and grabbing a water bottle off of the top shelf. There wasn't much food in the fridge, mainly left overs, beer bottles, soda, lunch meat, bagels and bread. Erin often found her self struggling to find something to eat. She propped in in her bag and progressed to the doorway shortly after.

"He'll kill ya if he's drunk Erin." The witch smirked, smacking a hand on the counter island. Erin turned half of her torso in the direction of her kin, her hand gripping the doorknob.

"Then I'd be one lucky girl, huh?" she replied, not giving her mother a single chance to respond and slamming the door behind her. The musk scent of cigarettes wafted about the outside of the old building, and she surely did hope that it hadn't rubbed off on her. It was the last thing she needed: to be called down to the office because some brat snitched on her and accused her of smoking. Happened last year-and what did she do? Take the blame and assured them that she would give up her nasty habit before it got too serious. Heh…

She didn't live far from the school, a mere couple blocks away; she lived in the bad part of McKinley however, but it didn't seem to make a huge difference...so what was the point of using her piece of shit car and wasting the gas just to get to school that was not even 5 minutes away (in exception to the Winter season)?

It wasn't long until she reached the parking lot, the loud chatter of gathered students barreling their loud chatter into her eardrums. She was more than aware at the unfamiliar students observing her Gothic presence, and narrowed her eyes upon catching a young fresh meat girl, who turned away briskly. Erin grimaced and ventured to the small tables under the brick awning; secluding herself from the rest in the seat she usually sat at-every year she attended this school.

Ashley and Ashlyn approached her not long after, probably out of pity, and stood in front of her; blocking anything within her vision. Swearing under her breath, she averted her azure gaze to the Barbie twins and calmly blinked.

"Hey Erin!" Ashley greeted. "How was your summer? Mine was like, amazing. As always"

"Like same here! Why wouldn't it be?" Ashlyn butted in. Erin blinked.

"Fine" she replied painfully slow, ignoring the pounding in her temples.

"Okay. Well, we're like going out to the mall after school- and we'd be totally cool with it if you'd want to come!" Ashley offered. Erin piped a small grin, their pity was pathetic.

"Yeah" Ashlyn popped her gum obnoxiously "Like later on tonight. Like old times" she smiled delightfully.

"And we can talk about how amazing my summer was" Ashley squealed.

"Mine too!" Ashlyn exclaimed.

"Obviously mine first though." The blonde huffed.

"You always tell things like first!" Ashlyn stared at Ashley incredulously. "People definitely want to hear about me too!"

Ashley waved her off, rolling her eyes and handing Erin a piece of lilac paper-most likely her number. "So, that's my cell if you're coming."

Erin blinked and brushed her bangs, clearing her throat awkwardly "Umm…I'll pass" she leaned further back into the seat.

Ashley pouted "come on Rin Rin. Don't you remember like how much fun we all had in middle school?"

"Mhmm, it was all about us!" Ashlyn reminded.

"What did you call me?" Erin asked slowly, gritting her teeth and shooting a death glare at the blonde; who scoffed.

"Rin Rin?"

She really wanted to know the girls teeth out…if only this was off school property. She didn't need to get suspended on the first day of senior year. "Don't…ever call me that again." And after a few moments of vast silence, the Ashes walked away from her, chattering about in their obnoxiously loud vocalizations:

"We are like so nice. I hope she comes" and something else from Ashlyn that she couldn't make out. Erin massaged her temples with her fingers and lowered her gaze to the ground.

"God you're such a freak" she mumbled to herself, stifling a soft sniff ever so slightly. No, she wasn't going to cry like a baby in front of everybody over her own self loathing—which was slowly eating away at her, bit by bit. When her gaze fixated to what was in front of her, she analyzed the students from the sidelines with a muffled sigh: she was a loner, some weird and pissed off Gothic chick with no friends. None.

A loud ring erupted from the loudspeaker, breaking her pathetic mingling thoughts and signaling the bitter start of the first block. Erin emerged from the bench, grasping her bag and checking her homeroom class: Block 1; Calculus-room 22. She started for the building, repeating "22, 22, 22…" under her breath just so she wouldn't forget. She knew where it was, being here for four years and having junior classes neighboring, so it wouldn't be as difficult to find it.

Pushing through the glistening glass doors, Erin stepped into the familiar school and pushed passed the pupils in her way; receiving the many stares and glances that she was used to already. _"Morning McKinley students! I'd like to wish you all a nice welcome back, and I hope you summer was fruitful. I really do hate to break the line between you all in summer- but it's time to get your minds into waking up early and successfully doing your work. Hope you all have a great first day back!" _The principals voice corrupted through the long hallways, barely covering the babbling of her fellow teenagers. From every corner, she spotted several groups of freshman frantically searching around for their classrooms, many elder classes spraying them with cans of silly string and whacking them with paddles. She rolled her eyes and remained looking for her locker number: 185, (which she remembered blindly from her schedule arrangements) near her homeroom class. Her gaze focused upon the smooth tiled floor beneath her shoes, scoffing at how entirely filthy it already looked. Had they not cleaned it since school had ended last year? Ever so suddenly, as she was lost in her thoughts, she bumped into a halted student and barely toppled backwards; stumbling to regain footing.

The male she had bumped into turned and cleared his throat, and she looked up at him apologetically. His obsidian hair was a mess, yet remaining volume and appearing a slight mess that draped just over his ear cartilage. He was wearing baggy black clothing in exception to the red and white shirts beneath; sporting black converse similar too her own. Two studded bracelets were worn proudly upon one wrist, the other holding some sort of watch and wrist band with scrapped stencils she couldn't properly read. He was almost like a boy version of her, save from the hair, baggy clothing and ashen eyes.

He shrugged his eyebrows at her, and she felt her face flushing. She turned away quickly, and returned to searching for her locker-not bothering to apologize.

It took her quite a while to get the damn locker open when she finally found it; in which she had to shoo many people away from it to even get a glance of the fresh sapphire metal. She shoved her bag onto the hooks that were placed inside the cramped area—free space on either side of her, a definite positive—one of her notebooks toppling out in the process. "Shit" she swore, quickly snatching the notebook up before anyone noticed it. She ran her fingers delicately upon the charred leather binding before tucking it on the shelf and wielding a folder and a pen. Then the bell rang. Fumbling, she slammed the locker door shut and made a swift turn to the right, scrambling down the hallway and pivoting into the homeroom. All seated students turned in her direction; most of them seniors, some of them juniors.

"Ah…Ms. Ulmer, how nice of you to make it; I was afraid that I would be missing another student in my class!" A gruffly, bald man grinned, beckoning her over to the desk. Silently, she obeyed and rolled her eyes in the slightest of movements: she absolutely hated calculus. Biology and Italian however…was two of her favorites. She liked some classes in school, considering that she hid most of the knowledge that she carries and passes most of the classes with an easy A or B.

"Actually, this is a great start, hmm? Let me tell you all a little secret-you can't tell anyone. I don't care if it's the first day or not, tardiness is not acceptable. You're seniors and juniors, no way am I going to take it easy on you all. Most of you already know that—Jack. Ms. Ulmer, this is your warning ticket, since you can't give detention on the first day." He smiled grimly at her as he handed over the yellow slip. Erin felt a slight blush creeping up to her cheeks, feeling awkwardly embarrassed. "Please take a seat next to..." he glanced at something "Mr. McKinley, right over there." He pointed towards an ebony haired boy whom she happened to bump into in the hallway.

And so she did, crumbling the sheet within her fist on her way over, weaving easily through the rows to get to the very back. Perfect. She took the empty seat near the window, since the boy did not, placing her books on then germ infested table and opening her notebook to a fresh clean page. Erin averted her luminaries to the blank page, decently listening to Mr. Budinsko (she caught his name from his desk while she was near) rant on about his classroom procedures and blah blah blah. She fetched her pencil and tapped it against the paper aimlessly, though she ended up sketching the outline of her own Gothic cross. "You're the girl from the hallway?" the male finally spoke, and she felt his gaze upon her.

"Mhmm…Sorry" she mumbled, inhaling a deep breath as the lead of her pencil ran along the white, red, and blue outlines of the paper; creating a very metallic like design.

"Hm, nothing to be sorry about, though I accept it." He said, fidgeting beside her. She blinked. "Maybe it would have been nice if you said it when you actually bumped into me."

"I was in a hurry"

"That's not surprising." He chortled. "I'm Ian, Ian McKinley. Yes, the great grandson of the very founder of the school and this whole wretched city." He stuck out his hand. She stared at if for a moment, reluctantly shaking it and keeping her grip as light as possible.

"Erin" she told him.

"Hm…Erin. Enlighten me, are you a natural klutz, or does it just happen on occasion?" he asked. She blinked disbelievingly.

"No, I am not a klutz" she simply answered, keeping her speech to a minimum. His lips curved downwards thoughtfully, yet before he could reply a hand slammed onto the wooden desk before them, causing Erin to jump up in surpise.

Mr. Budinsko stood in front of them with narrowed optics, scowling. "Not a good first impression, you two. I'll let you all know, speaking while another is, is certainly frowned upon in this classroom. And I'm sure most others have the same reasoning." He directed towards everyone. "Another perfect example, I must thank you both." He shot sarcastically, padding back to the front of the room and beginning to read from the premithem board.

"So you sure you're not a klutz?" Ian asked carelessly. Once more, she found herself blushing and cracked her mouth ajar.

"Yeah I'm sure…" she grumbled, looking up at his face for the first time.

"Lies" He shrugged, causing her to crack a grin.

"I'm serious!" she stared at him, suppressing her smirk and attempting to put on her poker face. She merely failed at that endeavor.

"In case you're forgetting, I was in this school in the ninth grade. Your gym class if I remember correctly—but you always seemed to trip on the field. Unless that was someone's doing..." He chuckled. She rolled her eyes and side glanced at him.

"Okay, well yeah I guess I'm a klutz." Erin shrugged.

"See, I knew it. Getting to know each other is the beginning of a new friendship, Erin" he remarked, rather smug. She blinked, unable to fully process what he had just explained to her.

"What?" She asked. "Friendship…?"

"Never heard of it before? That's okay, I'll explain. Friendship is like being acquaintances to someone else-minus the ship part of course. Ya know, they talk and eat lunch together." He cackled sarcastically. She snorted.

"I know what it is."

"Cool-o, because from the looks of it, we could both use a friend. What do you say, lunch?" he told her, leaning back into his chair. She suppressed her grin and nodded.

"We do…And sure."

There was a brief moment of comfortable silence as Mr. Budinsko turned in their direction, but that was quickly dismissed. "You don't talk much, do you?" He spoke, his words sounding more of a statement rather a question. His vocals, she noticed, were smooth yet with edge, and it made him partially attracting.

Erin looked up at him once more, briskly moving a strand of her fiery hair from her cheek. "Not used to it…I guess." She announced meekly.

"Not used to it?" not that was a question. But yet again, she simply shrugged. Really, she wasn't. She'd been alone practically her whole life since high school, and over each summer combined, this was probably the longest conversation she had had in a while. She had no idea what to even say to him. "Well then, let Dr. McKinley work his magic and help you with that." She couldn't help but giggle at Ian's expression, his fingers running together.

What the fuck?

"Trust me, you'll be talking like me in no time."

…**.**

**Something new that I've been writing up. I don't really think I covered the personalities quite correctly, yet I'm used to writing stories in which the characters are going through a rough time…and so on (as you will see on my profile, or if you had read my other stories). I really do intend to finish this story by the end of September, or October, because I have most of the chapters written down..  
**

**Anyways, review. Constructive criticism is always welcomed…Flames will be ignored. -_-**

**-A.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we are! Chapter two :) **

_Chapter 2;_

_McKinley Digits:_

"Well, Ms. Ulmer, it seems that you gave no experience in retail?" a greasy man in his late forties ruffed at her. She fiddled with her fingers and looked up at the Osama 'twin'.

"I don't but…" she started.

"Say no more, I see there is potential behind all that makeup. Stop by tomorrow to receive your shift-someone will be there to advise you kiddo." He smiled, closing her file folder.

"Tomorrow?" Erin asked shyly.

"Yup, any problems?" his expression turned skeptical. Quickly, she shook her head.

"No" she rose from her chair in union as he did. "Um, thank you."

He held out a soot covered appendage for her to shake. Reluctantly, she did, inwardly flinching at the contact. "No, thank _you_ we needed an extra night employee. Hopefully this won't affect your school nights-every weekend if I remember correctly." He drawled. She nodded and grinned in response, stiffly exiting his office. Once outside, Erin released a relatively ample exhale to calm her raging nerves. She never really thought how nerve wrecking applying for a job could be. Seriously…

In her jean pocket, her cell phone began to buzz obnoxiously whilst she made her way out of the store and into the parking lot-checking the ID before she answered. "What, mother?" she answered.

"Where the hell are you?" Her mother's voice came from the other line. "It's twelve o'clock."

"On my way home; there were other people interviewing. Not just me." She replied, rolling her eyes. Why would she even care? "Why?"

"Your father and I are going to the bar. If you're not home before we leave, I sure do hope you like sitting outside til 4 in the morning." She heard a chuckle.

Erin paused "Gee, thanks." She retorted sarcastically, her voice tingeing a venomous hiss. "I guess I can go somewhere else."

"HA! Like where Erin?" Her mother snickered. She could practically see the bitches wretched smirk.

"Movies"

"With what fucking money!"

"I have enough to get me in" she replied, seating herself in her car.

"Eh, whatever" and with that, Denise had hung up. Erin leaned back and shut the car door with a few harsh tugs.

"Piece of shit" she cursed loudly, resting her forehead against the leather steering wheel and starting up the vehicle with a sigh. She inhaled, and within the matter of a minute, she was speeding from the Build It! parking lot.

…**.**

Much to Erin's demise, the cinema was absolutely packed. The mere presence of her classmates and the complete strangers made her vexatious; she made sure she hadn't brushed any who came near here, keeping her arms packed to her sides. Luckily, she had arrived here before the crowd had formed and had received her ticket beforehand.

She just really hated people.

The chaos around her just made her remaining headache throb increasingly, straining her. It was difficult to even look at the lights heating the popcorn-which wasn't very bright. But what she really needed now, more than advil, was a beverage. She checked her watch as she waited in line; only 8 more minutes until the movie _Freaks_ showed. A movie she had been waiting to see for a while now, but never got a chance. And this was the last day that it was in theaters. Over the commotion however; she barely heard the worker say "Next in line." She stepped up quickly.

"One small coke" she mumbled quickly and rapidly, not wasting any time.

"Excuse me?" The employees leaned toward her, cupping his ear.

"One small coke" she repeated a bit louder, and much slower. He nodded and turn his back on her to prepare her refreshment. While she waited, she impatiently tapped her foot against the tiled terra. The cinema wasn't necessarily the cleanest she has seen, the lobby being absolutely crowded due to small space.

But her thoughts kept drifting to Ian-the only one to actually befriend her beside Ashley and Ashlyns pity

"That'll be 2.75$" the cashier told her, handing her the coke. She took the change she had received from getting her ticket, giving the guy a crumpled three dollars and walking away from him to avoid getting any more change. She snatched a straw from one of the booths nearest to the ticket giver. Once she went to the podium, she rummaged through her pockets for the slip. Each one was empty.

"You have the ticket or not?" a worker asked, someone she recognized from her homeroom class. A senior, to her disappointment.

"Yeah, but I can't find it" she remarked.

"Can't get in without a ticket, ma'am" he explained, tapping a finger against the pale ashen wood. Heh, guess he needed to use manners here?

"I bought the damn ticket, are you kidding me?" Erin glared at him, her frustration rising. "Go ask the guy for all I care, I bought that ticket."

"The movie is going to be here until tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?" She snorted "Well I have work tomorrow"

"Looks like you're out of luck" he shrugged. Just when she was about to give him a piece of her mind, a hand slipped out in front of her.

"I guess I forgot to give this to her when I bought it. She was busy getting me that drink." The male gave the man the ticket, snatching the drink from her hands to take a sip. His voice was all too familiar; but Erin barely paid attention to that. She was frozen in her place, her breath hitching in her throat.

His arm was around her shoulders.

"Heh, theater 3 to your left, enjoy the show." Expeditiously, she paced forward and turned to face the teen-none other than Ian McKinley.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked cautiously, her eyes averting to her drink and back to his pale face.

"You looked like you were going to go throw him into a well or something" he simply responded. When she turned away from him, still pulsing with anger, she felt him walking beside her. "That's what friend are for, right?" he asked.

"I wouldn't know…"

"Come to think of it, neither would I" he drawled, handing her the drink. "My apologies, I'm always fucking forgetting about the simplest things." He was grinning when she looked up at him, not responding to his previous statements. "Ten bucks this movie is gonna rock" he added after a vast silence, and by then, they were already in the dark abyss of the theater. He jogged up the stairs ahead of her while she was busy searching for available seats; promptly thinking that, that was the last of their conversation. When her gaze caught his form, he was seated at the very top row with four empty seats around him, a hand on the one next to it. He patted it, signaling her to sit next to him. She did.

Once seated, she took a quick swig of her coke-forgetting that he took a sip of it earlier- and put her hand on her lap. Her azure pools were fixated upon the movie previews, obviously not interested. Beside her, Ian finally spoke: "You still don't talk much, eh?" he turned to face her, his shiny hair and dark clothing almost acting as camouflage gear against the walls and seats-chocolate optics glimmering. She imagined she appeared the same.

She contemplated on what to say, almost going with "Wasn't planning on it" but instead settled with: "I guess not—after seven hours…"

"I thought we talked about this." He grimaced, his handsome face twisted.

…Wait

…What?

"We did. In homeroom, physics, Italian and lunch" she explained, her tone sounding rather flat in which her previous thoughts were rattling within the unorganized clusters of her mind. He looked pleasingly shocked.

"Hmm, that's improvement! Almost a full sentence, I must be rubbing off on you already" he said.

"I doubt it."

And then the movie started.

…**.**

Erin arose from the seat stiffly, her back aching like mad. That shockingly brilliant movie was two and a half hours long, and a struggle to sit through. She stretched her arm muscles feebly, and alongside Ian, stepped down the series of steps and pushing passed the people in her way and receiving many rude shoulder bumps-one making her nearly topple over. From corner glance, Ian looked like he was having the same problem. "That movie had to be the longest movie I've ever seen" she snorted as soon as they were reunited; surprising herself.

"Woah, was that ANOTHER full sentence I heard? Are you feeling well Ulmer?" Ian chuckled. She released one of her own, catching his contagious smile.

"Oh piss off" she spat jokingly.

Ian shrugged his eyebrows, putting his hands in his heavy coat pockets "Ouch. I'm shocked." He said.

"You're shocked?" she mumbled as they walked through the corridors and into the lobby. They were near the cafeteria area, where coffee and other products were sold.

"Do you have to ask? That was the most I've heard you process" He looked at her; though she kept her gaze towards her feet. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Are you?" she asked.

"I asked you first" he raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, and apparently he took the motion as a yes. "iight, save me a seat at one of these tables and I'll go get us something."

"…Okay" she whispered, though he was already off to get in line. She ran her fingers through her hair-something inside of her jolting. Had she finally found a friend? Or was he just another fraud? Her lips curved into a frown, a rather unpleasant display, at the thought. No, Ian was too friendly with her, and he was going through the same thing she was. Loneliness. Yet it still was overall shocking to believe. Maybe having a friend wouldn't be so bad.

It wasn't long until she found a seat, given that the majority of the pupils in the lobby had cleared out to see the movies, or had gone home. She reclined on the cold metal chair, staring down at her black glossed nails-they needed another coat applied. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw more assholes staring at her pathetic and lonesome figure.

Erin obviously knew she wasn't like teenagers-she didn't enjoy life like most did, absolutely despised pop music, and liked to be alone most of the time. But honestly, even though the words of others hit her pretty hard-why should she care what they have to say and think of her? She was her own, lonesome outside in McKinley, always left alone just how she likes it.

Not…

Rubbing the corner of her eyes, she expired a soft sigh and spread her forearms on the stone table, her fingers intertwining. Lowly, her stomach gurgled: no breakfast and no lunch-which was nasty clumps of mush that usually made her confined-was beginning to take its toll on her. Luckily, Ian had returned rather quickly with a plate of nachos and melted cheese dip. He sat down across from her.

"Since you don't like to tell me anything, I didn't know what you liked and didn't. Hopefully you like nachos." He rubbed his hands together and began to chow down, adding "I know I do."

Erin swiped up a Tostitos chip "Nachos are good" she huffed, delicately chewing upon the chip.

"Great, there's not disappointment here" he smiled genuinely at her, and for some reason, she had to smile back at him.

"You could have asked me though" she drawled.

"And you would have said…?" She shrugged. His smile twisted into a beautiful smirk, head tilted sideways as he gnawed on another nacho. "That's what I thought, Pip"

Erin blinked, displaying a fairly confused expression "Pip?"

"Yeah, Pip-ya know, from Freaks" Ian shrugged. She smirked and stole another nacho.

"Alright then, Zip" she retaliated with a giggled.

In front of her, she spotted Ian creeping out a small crumbled piece of paper from his jacket pocket and scribbling something down-a series of numbers and words. He handed it to her afterwards "My number and address." He informed her once she caught glance. Erin bit her lip and stole his pen right from his fingers, ripping a small piece from the bottom and jotting down her own cell phone number.

"That's mine" she said, slipping it over to his side of the table.

"Rightio" he chewed on another nacho, the crunching of the chip faint though it appeared he meant to gnaw rather obnoxiously. "This is the start of something, Pip, it's getting somewhere" he added. She nodded and glanced at her watch.

"Yeah, I should get going." Once more, he masked the frown that was familiar in her Calculus class. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely. Do you need a ride home? I have my van" he asked. She shook h head and stood from her spot, wiping the corner of her mouth with her fingers. "Cool." He rose as well tossing the leftover meal into the garbage a little ways off from where they were at the moment. Once more she bit her lip and gave him a tiny wave before her palm smacked against her thigh, whisking from the cinema and towards her car. As she stepped outside, the nights chilly air barreled into her like a billion bricks. Apparently, her jeans, long sleeved shirt and jacket weren't enough to keep her warm. She found her hands clutching her biceps, arms tucked tightly to her chest.

It was September-it wasn't supposed to be cold out.

She hit the gas as soon as she got into her parked vehicle to port to the busy roads, the flashing of headlights blaring in every direction on the ashen pigmented domain. Faintly scoffing at the unnecessary traffic at three in the morning (which was odd in her opinion) she turned on the radio and switched through the channels until she found a good station. Unfortunately, she ended up turning the radio off altogether as there were no music genres that suited her well enough. Just her luck…

…**.**

Once she arrived to her small two, story home, she observed the familiar surroundings and huffed. No lights were on in the house, save for the outside ones which automatically flicked their dim light at the mere presence of her car pulling up in the driveway. She grumbled, for the van was still gone "Ugh…" she groaned, pulling a bobby pin from her jacket and hacking the lock to the door. Her curly sun kissed hair delicately flowed with the frequent breeze as she worked; sending another chill down her spine.

Soon after, she found herself welcomed by the unsettling aroma of cigarettes and alcohol.

Peeling her jacket from her shoulders, she stumbled over to the bathroom for a quick, much needed shower. While looking at her horrid reflection over the counter, she couldn't help but smirk. _You may still look like shit…but hey-you finally got a friend. _

…**.**

**This one wasn't all that great, but it's something…I hope you liked it anyways! Please review-remember, as said, constructive criticism is always welcomed!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3;_

_She was to blame:_

**T**he horizons protruded a boisterous clash of thunder over the town of McKinley, the bestow accumulating and pounding against the roof tops. Erin sat in silence as she watched the flashes of lightning and the clouds release their tears, enjoying the weather. She loved storms, more than snow. Why? Because it reassures her that no one could spot her agonized tears. She loved snow though-it made her feel free, like watching the birds do.

Birds…

Sometimes Erin wished she could fly; fly away from her home, the town, the torments, and the state…just away from it all. Oh how she envied the beautiful winged creatures. Often, she found herself sketching wingless birds, as if the drawings were stuck in her position and could never fly free. There was a ton of them amongst the other drawings in her notebook. And other times, she felt strange pity for torturing the soulless birds and granted them wings-creating more beautiful artwork. She really wished she could draw herself a pair of wings; it would make her life so much easier.

Maybe Ian was an icon for something in her life. Maybe this newfound friendship could be some sort of key to happiness. He was someone who goes through the same loneliness as she has, and deals with the cruel bullying and tormenting students at high school. He's someone who can actually understand the harsh realities of the world, and someone who understands that everybody in the universe is a jackass. Ian and Erin-Zip and Pip-the two freaks of McKinley.

She was glad to have found Ian the first day: someone she never noticed before, so she didn't have to be alone during her last year. Continuously over the summer, she kept reminding herself to make friends. That was a big yeah right. It was the first day of school, and she already (partially) had one. What were the odds that Erin Nicole Ulmer had found a bud? A shock, if she said so herself. Probably the only one she'll every have, but that was perfectly fine with her. She didn't need a huge group of fakes and frauds to satisfy the friendless problem-all she needed was a friend in this school. It would be nice to have just one, single friend.

And oddly enough, just the thought of this chocolate eyed male made her heart skip a beat. His sarcastic tongue, nonchalant smirk and mischievous illusion made him…beautiful. She couldn't deny it if she wanted.

Erin sighed and shifted in her stance for a moment, bringing a hand to her check. "Listen to yourself, you've only been talking to him for a day" she reminded herself with a grumble. She inhaled and arose from the window sill, peering to the driveway to see if her parents stumbled their way home again-relived that they were not.

Silence prolonged about the small house.

Out of utter boredom, she found herself counting her breath. What to do…what to do?

Nothing

She followed the silence upstairs to her bathroom, figuring it would be less complicated if she just got ready and took a nap until her parents got home. After all, it was a school night, and she guessed that if she crashed early she wouldn't have to worry about being late again. With a flick of her hand, she switched on the washrooms light; filling it with the fluorescent hue. Erin snatched a cleaning rag from the cabinet and turned on the faucet to wash up her face. Gently, she rubbed off the make-up outlining her eyes, dismissing the fact that the outside was deemed a light cherry pigment. Afterwards, she splashed the crystalline fluid running from the tap onto her face to rid it of any face soap she applied after her make-up was washed off. She didn't hear the front door open from all this commotion.

"Oh Erin~!" a slurred voice corrupted within the house. Recognizing the voice of her drunken father, her , her heart increased in speed and she promptly froze in her spot above the sink. Water dripped slowly from her cheek and chin from the previous cleanse, and in the agonizingly slow process of retrieving a towel, she wiped it off.

There was a loud crash downstairs-which she figured was a lamp or vase.

She bit her lips as the intonation reached her ear drums. "I know you're home, you little ho" he shouted. Erin winched at the words as she searched for some sort of possible escape route-the hallway floors were way too squeaky-and turned the dimmed lights completely off. She cracked the door shut: where was her mother?

_Think, Erin! _She thought bitterly, her mental pleases only causing destruction to her thinking path. Albeit her gaze turned back to the mirror (frankly believing she was done for) her irises, pale blue, caught the glimmering of the glass window. With one last glance to the door, she popped the screen open and stood on the toilet seat for height aid. While doing so, she almost slipped and fell due to the anxious nerves. She heard her sires booming footsteps up the stairs.

"Why are all the lights off?" he seethed, voice laced with venom. Erin stopped breathing and brought her foot to the window sill, pushing up with her pillar strength and heaving her slender frame to the outside of the house.

Clearly, she wasn't thinking at all.

Her hands slipped from the plank that was holding her, her platform breaking her fall with a boisterous thud, the grit making up the terrain consisting of pebbles and sharp rocks only resulting a more painful landing than expected. Erin sucked in a breath and hauled herself to her bare feet, merely attempting to ignore the new pain coursing through her back and thighs. Glancing at the house, she stuck her middle fingers up and chortled; "Screw you, dad" before taking off into the dark and open streets.

…**.**

**T**he rain didn't necessarily make anything any easier, for she had slipped and landed on her face at least 5 times since she snuck away from her father. Her clothes clung to her partially limping physique, fiery hair darkening as it got soaked through her hood. Blood-rouge liquid-cascaded from her heels and feet from random shards of glass (most likely from reckless drunks smashing beer bottles), and pointed loose rocks and pebbles about the road. The rain had hid her salty tears once again, for she was crying. Every once in a while, Erin's throat would tighten and her eyes would burn, releasing more involuntary waterworks and silenced weeps.

Five miles from her home-no clue where she was-and she was tired.

Erin hugged herself as she tumbled, her charred nails digging into her sweat shirt sleeves sharply. A weak cough emitted unexpectedly, followed by a fit of many more. She was forced to stop. Very suddenly, she felt nauseas; it must have been her rattling nerves. The young adult took another deep inhale and resumed her pointless journey far away from her possibly destroyed household-guessing that the coughs were a sign of the current weather making her sick.

She never pictured herself doing this, with no potential intentions at least, though it was an understatement to say that she didn't see this coming. She refused to go through the beatings again-especially since they have been becoming increasingly alarming and appearing at random times. She contemplated killing herself many times before, she just never wanted to feel the pain that it would bring to herself. She didn't even know if it was worth it anyway, beside everything. But one thing she knew for sure was…

…She had it coming when they found out she had ran away.

"Ugh, you're so stupid!" she collided her palm to her face with a groan, shaking her head. Another tear slipped down her damp cheek, images of what was expected from her parents flashing in front of her eyes. Images of herself face down on the wooden floors, moaning and sobbing as her father beat her and her mother watched carelessly. Really, it wouldn't be the first time. Without warning, amongst these horrible scenarios, her younger siblings pale innocent face appeared.

Her step father was sober the time it had happened. He was Denise's newest boyfriend with a drug problem, and mental issues. He was the one who tore the bond between Erin and her mother to pieces, getting his kin hooked to valium and other pills. She was sitting in her room, drowning her troubles in her music as usual. But there was multiple screams downstairs that broke her from her reverie. She almost fell rushing down the stair way-soon finding herself unable to move from the bottom step out of shock: a hand plastered to the wall beside her, and another tightly grasping the railing in a vice grip. Her sister, Alex, was being beaten right before her eyes, reasoning still unknown. Her step father favored Erin, however (for she kept quiet and stayed out of trouble) and demanded that she went back up stairs. But she noticed blood and the glistening new pocket knife on the floor beside her sibling. Horror struck, Erin remembered slamming her fists against her step fathers chest and pushing him away from her; screaming verses along the lines of "stop!" and "you're killing her!" and taking the rest of the terrible beating instead. But Alex was already dead. Her step father went to jail, and that was when her real, angered, father came back into the picture.

It was only a year ago…

Erin promptly fell to her knees at the memory, a muffled wail escaping from her throat. She reclined to her lower limbs and curled her toes slightly. She was unable to control the tears running down her cheeks, mingling with the rain that pattered onto her facial. Releasing a quiet sob, she placed a dripping hand over her mouth and clenched her eyes shut. That didn't seem to work-the blinks she made, the quick times she closed her eyes, her sisters face would appear. It was all her fault—she was to blame. She didn't protect Alex the way she should have. What kind of older sister was she?

"Um, Erin?" a familiar voice called from a short distance. Erin's head shot up at the unexpected call, squinting to see who it was. Of course it had to be her fellow senior classmate, Wendy Christensen. She was holding a blue umbrella over her head, avoiding the pouring rain, and began to waltz forward. Quickly, Erin attempted to regain composure and arose to her pulsating feet, sniffling and slightly embarrassed she had been caught.

"What?" she muttered against the loud rain, throat tight and almost enabling her ability to speak. Wendy stopped before her, a little way off in which Erin supposed the other female was keeping distance.

"What are you doing? Are you okay?" she asked, sounding impressively sincere.

Erin scoffed and crossed her arms, trembling partly because of the rain, her soaked figure, and cold winds. "Why do you care? You don't even know me" she challenged. Wendy blinked.

"Okay, I'm not like everyone else. I'm not here to make fun of you, or anything like that!" The brunette replied after a moment of quiescence.

She stared at her. Honestly, even though it wouldn't kill her to be nice, she wanted nothing to do with this girl or her jock boyfriend-the schools voted cutest couple.

"Please tell me you're not homeless or anything" she said, causing Erin to raise an eyebrow and crack a smirk.

"Ha-ha, homeless? Wendy I have a home, and a place to stay" she replied feebly. _Barely_ she mentally added, though her mouth remained shut.

"Then what are you doing, crying in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain without an umbrella or anything?" Wendy pushed, oddly calm.

"Because" was her star answer.

"Because why?" she asked.

"Really, that's none of your concern Wendy..." Erin sneered, pivoting and beginning to walk away from the conversation and Wendy herself. It wasn't intentional to drive her away, and under any other circumstance she would have found herself attempting to make friends with her.

"Wait!" Wendy called. Erin didn't stop. There was no way she was going to open up to some girl she barely even knew; besides, Wendy would most likely call the cops, and Erin would land in some random foster home, or with no place to stay at all.

She pulled her sweat shirt sleeve up to check the time, barely registering the fact that she's been gone for two hours exactly. The rain pattered against the small glass screen as it was exposed, creating soft, yet sharp, clunks to aid the thunderous sounds of rain smashing against the pavement. And then she remembered something. Erin dug into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper and her cell phone, dialing Ian's number as she continued to walk on, tucking the paper back into her pocket so the ink did not wash away. She knew he wouldn't answer because of the time, but she really couldn't help but have that small spark of hope that he would. Mumbling, she snapped the phone shut and returned it to her pants pocket, turning around to make sure Wendy was not following. Of course, she was.

Erin sniffed and squinted once more "What, Wendy?" she asked the other senior.

"Tell me what's going on. Why are you out so late?" she asked in return.

"Why are you?"

"I needed to take a little walk, and you?"

The red-head grumbled. "Same, okay? Don't get under my skin now, Wendy…I'm not really in the mood to play 'one billion questions'" Wendy stood there for a moment, the two females staring into each other's eyes-azure VS emerald-before sighing and walking away in the other direction. Closing her eyes, Erin grimaced and inhaled a soothing breath, padding off again and shivering from the rain and previous memory.

She wasn't ready to go home yet.

So why was she going back? Because she needed to face the wasted wrath of her parents anyways, so she might as well just get it over with.

…**.**

**B**y the time she found her way home, she was coughing and tearing again. Who knew what they were going to do to her…and it scared the hell out of her, which was hard to do. Were they going to kill her just when things were looking up?

She paused at the doorstep, under the protecting of a small awning sticking from the house, and staring at the sorrel wooden splintered frame. Her hand locked around the doorknob, daring to make a sound. When she finally gained little courage, she pushed the door agape and peered inside. Strangely, there was a sweet smell whisking from the kitchen. Her father must have noticed her approaching form right away, for he immediately stood. Erin held her breath, preparing herself. "Where the fuck did you go?" he slurred, advancing towards her.

"Out…" she whispered.

"No, no you weren't. Your car was here, all the fucking lights were on and off. Don't lie to me!" She gasped as his hand collided with her face, a sharp stinging sensation erupting within the area.

"I-I'm not lying" she stuttered, her words pronounced in mumbles.

"The hell you're not!" he pushed her to the wall, and she tightly closed her eyes. "Well? Where the fuck did you go? Answer me damn it!" he continued. However, before she could even reply to him, her grasped her shoulders and shoved her to the ground harshly. She grunted and saved herself by holding out her palms, elbows erect to keep her from falling to the carpet, though soon, she collapsed in pain as his foot met her stomach with a violent kick. Twice. She yelped at both kicks, not daring to get up with he stopped-her breathing becoming ample.

"Rich-" her mother sighed from the kitchen.

"Don't even start with me women! This little bitch is in here lyin', what do you expect me to fuckin' do?" he swore viciously, yanking Erin up by her elbow, his fingers pressing into her skin harshly enough to cause several bruises in their place. "Now, tell me where you were."

"I went walking…" she squeaked, a tear slipping down her cheek. Once more, his hand smacked against her face.

"Damn it, Erin!" he shouted, pushing her away from him and causing her to stumble back to the floor. As he toppled, she recoiled and winced, her whole body aching. She felt like she was going to throw up. She managed to maintain her sob, for she didn't want to seem more fragile and vulnerable than she was currently.

More solid kicks were given to her stomach and back, the pain only escalating due to his dirty, tattered boots. She was slapped again, only this time, her lip splitting upon contact. She whimpered and took a fist full of the carpet, pushing herself a little ways up and keeping her head low to the ground. Another kick to her back resulted in a sharp yelp-which was mainly the only sound she could muster the whole way through. "Fucking tramp" her father muttered harshly as he backed away from her heavily breathing form, walking out of the house. Weakly, Erin managed to pull herself to her feet again, whilst her arm coiled around her stomach and clutched her shirt, wincing at the sharp pain that coursed throughout her torso and visage. She could taste the blood in her mouth, feel it on her lips and scratches that were given from the boots on her back and abdomen. Slowly, Erin backed away and looked up at her mother, her damp auburn hair clinging to her forehead. Denise cussed.

"Fuck me! I was making him damn pancakes."

…**.**

**Nice reaction from her mother, huh? Drug addicts are messed up in the head, so it's kind of expected…Review. **

**-A.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The ideas for the first chapter that were taken from another story were fixed and edited, therefore, there's really no more conflict. In advance, I apologize to FD3Fanatic for that previous issue (though apologies real don't do crap…) Anyway…Chapter 4's up. Enjoy -_-**

_Chapter 4;_

_Ian McKinley, you are one confusing bastard. _

**E**rin hated school.

She hated the clothing policy, she hated the stupid school rules, she hated the homework, she hated getting pushed and shouldered in the hallway, she hated that they weren't allowed to chew gum, and she absolutely hated that IPods—much like cell phones—were not allowed on school grounds. But worst of all, she hated gym class, where she was forced to participate in the lame activities and sports; especially after getting castigated brutally the night before the class. She had two periods to go out of the school day-the last block being the dreaded gym class. Basically, she had time to think of a way to bail.

At her locker, she slowly took her satchel strap from her aching shoulder and hung it on one of the metal, rusty hooks in the cramped space that made up her locker, her texts books on the shelves stacked in an unorganized manner. Already, her locker was expressing her personality; her own drawings framed on the inside door, neighboring a picture of Alex, and overlapping each other. Erin sighed and made sure her money was in her front sweatshirt pocket, the deep purple V-neck (once again, long sleeved) shirt beneath exposed as the zipper was only half way up her torso. She felt the eyes of wandering students pierce into her back; it was apparent that black clothing, white stud belts and heavy appliance of make-up and nail polish caught the student's attention quite often.

Ian and she were much alike in that factor, falling into the label of "Goth" in their school. It would seem that they were friends with the "emo" and "punk" cliques that were also gathered in small groups of two or three, but they weren't. Erin barely even knew they existed in this pathetic town-and she was sure it was vice versa.

She stepped back and closed her locker door, speeding down the hall opposite of her homeroom and to the cafeteria. There was a choice or where the seniors were allowed to eat: the lunch room, classrooms, or outside in the courtyard. She usually preferred to eat at the courtyard, under a nice shady tree where she was by herself. But the weather had stopped her from doing so this time, and she was forced to eat in the hot, sweaty room with the juniors and seniors. Great…

Erin walked stiffly down the hallways, maintaining her fastened pace and attempting to avoid any students that taunted her; unprepared-something unlike her. A student treading in the opposite direction of her passed her a little too closely for her comfort, his shoulder knocking into hers and a foot colliding with her ankle and causing abrupt pain to tingle down her arm and backside. She hissed and scrunched up her face, her opposite shoulder slamming into the concrete walls as she stumbled. She quickly dismissed the laughter of the male and his friends, and proceeded to zoom down the hallway. Ian's locker was not far off from the cafeteria, so, she decided to visit him last minute.

"Hey Zip" she greeted as she opened his locker door, stopping beside him. He stared at her and blinked.

"Pip" he replied. Her heart fluttered softly at his smooth voice. She raised a hand to bite her nails-a nasty habit she grew accustomed to-in attempt to cover her split lip. She didn't need any questions being asked. However, her pursue had been too late. "What happened to your lip?" he asked quietly, turning to face her.

"I um, fell" Was her ludicrous response. Ian rolled his eyes.

"A fall wouldn't split a lip unless you knocked your face against someone's knuckles" he grabbed a tattered book from his shelf and curled his fingers around her wrist, pulling it away from her face. She winced, cringing back a little bit and averting her gaze to the ground. "Who did this to you?"

She kept silent, brushing a wavy strand of hair from her cheek. Her eyes were glazing over with tears; though she absolutely refused to cry in front of him. She was having trouble of coming up with a lie, her mind clouded with the doings from last night, to the previous situation.

"Oh come on, you can tell me" He shifted his weight to the left, closing his locker door.

"I don't think so" she blurted, pivoting on her heels and making her way to the lunch room not far off. He trailed beside her, his books at his thigh and his messy jelled hair bouncing slightly as he walked. His converse sneakers created an equal thud as her boots did, though almost silent as the clusters of students created a chorus of conversations above the harmony.

"We're friends right?" he asked suddenly, his arm faintly brushing hers. She couldn't hide the relief when he said the words, and an unexplainable happiness flowed through her.

"Yeah, we are" she replied. She saw him smirk.

"Okay, so we're friends that means you can tell where you got that split lip of yours" he said, putting a hand in his jean pockets as they walked. The hallways were almost cleared, most of the students already in their next period class and the others at the lunch room. It was apparent that the two were walking slowly just to waste time: the line to get food was tremendously long; everybody wanted to finish their food by the end of the period and before study hall.

"Can we just…talk about this later?" She murmured, twisting a studded bracelet on her wrist. Her sleeves were brought up only a quarter inch from her hand, exposing the bracelets that cover various cuts and burns. She wouldn't take them off if they killed her.

Ian hesitated. "Sure thing Pip, but there's not getting out of it later. Even if I have to beat it out of you" he joked, hinting sarcasm. The words however, sent her nerves spiking, and she released a nervous chuckle.

"You wouldn't do that" she said, casting a glance at him from the side. He smirked, pushing through the cafeteria doors. The loud voices of the students thundered in the room, and Erin heaved a sigh.

"Broom or mop, which one do you prefer?" He asked.

"Let me sleep on that"

"Ah mop it is…Good choice Pip, brooms are slightly overrated." He said, swiftly stepping over a student's fallen backpack. She twisted a dollar bill in her hand so it looped, and bit the inside of her bottom lip slightly. Unexpectedly, the two simultaneously fell to the tile, laughter echoing through the cafeteria. As her damaged and bruised stomach hit the terra, Erin sharply winced. Ian stood and grabbed her arm, helping her up. "You okay?"

She nodded, sighing. "Yeah…" Ian turned to Lewis, the jock that had tripped them.

"That was very original, Lewis. I find it highly hilarious that you lack the knowledge of bullying others. Tripping is rather failish in my opinion." He shrugged, his back turned to Erin. She hid her face from the laughing students, focusing on her nail biting.

"You know you're a wise ass, McKinley. You've got it coming" Lewis sneered.

"I've got it coming? Wow that's frightening" Ian replied. Erin tugged lightly on his jacket sleeve, as if she was mutely saying that he wasn't worth their time. He seemed to catch this, and turned away from the football Quarter back, beginning to tread back to the end of the line. Quickly, she scurried after him, attempting to ignore the nausea and throbbing that coursed throughout her body, and the feeble stares and grins of others. Once in line, she turned to face him.

"How can you just stand up to them?" She shook her head.

"How can you take what they do?" Ian responded, stepping forward as the line moved.

"They're not worth the time…and they would just continue it no matter what." she shrugged.

"They may not be worth your time, or mine for that matter…but hey, you can't let them see that you're vulnerable. They feast on our fear and embarrassment. Lurking monsters"

"You make a good point but-"

"No, there isn't a 'but' in this. Stand up to them, and maybe someday they'll just leave you alone. I do it all the time" he tossed his head back, and smirked at the ceiling.

Erin rolled her eyes "And how's that working out for ya?" she asked, fumbling with her money-which had surprisingly not fallen from her hands when she tripped. He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

"That's the first time they tripped me since I came back from Montana." Ian replied.

"It's the second day of school Zip" she reminded him, and for a split second, he didn't seem as smart as he really was.

"Well they didn't tease me yesterday. Eh whatever, I can really care less what goes through their tiny pea brains. All they care about is girls, sex, money and football."

…**.**

**W**hen it was their turn to order their food, Erin scowled at their choices. They were all nauseating, and she really didn't need any of that anymore than she already has. So she took whatever the lunch lady had in the spoon; bowl pork. Overall the aroma was appetizing, though the appearance…was not. It looked like shit on the sidewalk, but it was expected. The food had always been like this at the school, well at least every year she has been here. Ian had ordered the local pizza delivery.

He guided her to a small empty table near the windows, nonchalantly setting himself in front of her. She took her seat slowly and slid a notebook aside, beginning to prod at her the pile of inedible indication of the pork. Ian took a few bites of his pizza, and seemed to notice the scowl she had apparently made without her own knowledge. "I see you're enjoying your food." He commented bluntly.

"They really need to get a new lunch lady…or something." She replied, meeting his glance. It was a mistake, a huge mistake on her part, for she found herself struggling to peel her eyes away from his. He smirked.

"Hmm…I think they might be trying to fatten us scrawny teens. Put some disgusting flab on those muscles" he wrinkled his nose, holding his grease dripping pizza above his tray as if to prove his point.

"Yuck" she grimaced, pushing her own plate away from her due to the sudden loss of appetite. "School food is just simply…gross" she added.

"If it's even considered food at all" Ian countered. Erin licked her bottom lip and attempted to get comfortable. Unfortunately, the stiffness in her back and the bruises meeting the cold metal seats beneath the protection of her clothing...enabled her to do so. "So, what do you have last block?" he switched topics, though he looked as if he was rather interested on her answer.

Erin heaved another sigh, the extension of her lungs and stretching of her thin stomach resulting in a tingling feeling because of the sore muscles and bruises. "PE and you?"

Ian groaned "Oh, I'm stuck with you?" She rolled her eyes

"Gee…thanks" she mumbled. "But I was thinking about skipping, so…you don't have to deal with horrid old me." She shrugged.

"You're skipping gym without me? Harsh" His grin was contagious, as always.

"What makes you think that I want to skip class with you?" She replied, once more biting her polished nails. While she waited for his response, she absently pondered how much small chips of black paint nestled in her stomach and intestines, which was expected to affect her health at some point.

"Because I have incredible places to go; and you just can't resist me. I mean…Look, I got you talking more in just one day" he winked, and she felt a soft glow of crimson rise to her cheeks.

"So where are these places?" She asked, beginning to fork the mush upon her tray once more.

"Let's get outta here." He said tossing both her and his tray into the trash can not far off. She rose from her seat to follow him as he strode across the cafeteria at a quickened pace in which she was used to already. Honestly, she couldn't be more thankful that he wanted to skip right then and there with her; French class wasn't as amusing as last year.

The halls were quiet as they walked their lengths, and once more, their shoes matched in equal clanks. Luckily, no teachers were present in the hallways, and instead teaching classes or sitting in the air conditioned technology rooms. The instant they got to the door, Ian gently placed his fingers around the door handle, prying it open with a gentle tug in order not to cause noise to expose their escaping presence. She huffed and followed after him, putting her hood over her fiery hair as soon as she stepped into the pouring rain. Ian didn't seem to mind it.

Both kept quiet until they were off of school property.

"It's not far off from here" he said to her, keeping his gaze low against the rain. Erin casted a simple glance at his facial, taking in his handsome features. She really didn't know what the flutter in her stomach was about, though she had a pretty good idea. Though she shook the idea of her possibly falling in love with the guy she had just met a day ago, it seemed to prod and bother at the back of her mind as they walked. Ian guided her left and right, eventually leading her to a rather large house.

The home itself gave a slight eerie sense, a dead palm standing out amongst the luscious bushes and flowers beyond the gates and boarding the sides of the alabaster walls. A wooden porch bearing a deep beige hue spread out to the doorway and a good portion of the houses sides; a small stairway leading to the double doors that glinted with smudged glass.

Erin quizzically gazed at Ian as he worked at the gates latches. "Is this…Is this your house?" she asked, gauging his reaction. He smirked, though his eyes never strayed from the locks.

"Yep, who did you think it belonged to?" he shook his head and led her to the yard, casually stepping to the side of the gate door to allow her in, in a gentlemanly fashion.

"Um…What are we doing at your house?" she questioned, walking alongside him once more and to the porch.

"I'd thought you'd like to see it for starters. We got time to kill." He shrugged simply, taking a key from his pockets. Erin found herself partially drenched like the previous night, not as horrid however; and coughs had protruded harshly from her chest. Hoarsely, she cleared her throat as he opened the door, gazing around the large and open entrance hall of the hardy home. Frames wielding pictures of the family and town surrounded the walls, a small coffee table resting a few feet from the doors with a large vase of fake fruits and flowers inside the bowl. She inhaled the sweet musk scent that erupted over the course of the house; finding the aroma more suckle like. Blindly, she noticed him staring at her, as if he was expecting some sort of 'holy shit' reaction. Erin had no words-just a few steps and glances at the neighboring rooms had her envious that her own home was not like this.

"I guess being related to the founder of this town has its perks." She said, peering into the vast living room.

"Eh, you can say that. It's really nothing special if you look at it-of course to anyone the amount of money my grandfather left us and this whole house in general, it would seem like it" he replied lamely, trudging along to the stairs. Quickly, she followed. "Come on, I'll show you my room" he added before she got a chance to think of a reply.

"It really is…nice though"

"You think? I don't. I mean come on; this is all too fancy for my liking. I don't know about you but…" he drawled.

She blinked and paused for a moment on the steps as she walked. "I don't like fancy things either, but this is way better than my home." She admitted.

"I guess that's our next stop then"

"Zip, my house isn't interesting at all. We really don't need too" Erin swallowed a small lump in her throat: she wasn't ready to go back home yet, and she didn't even know if her father had come home after last night's incident. For the third time this day, he shrugged and led her through another short hallway once upstairs, passing many closed doors before getting to the very end. The last door was decorated with posters and signs, some printed and others homemade. There were so many that overlapped, each slogan half covering and often contradicting the one before it: "VOTE NO ON PROP.666…MEAN PEOPLE RULE…END DISCRIMINATION; HATE EVERYONE…" Erin could imagine him collecting the bumper stickers indiscriminately and slapping them to the door with a haphazard focus on his turf. She could only picture what the rest of his room looked like.

She could have kept herself entertained for at least an hour reading Ian's door, but he soon twisted the doorknob to reveal a very dark and messy atmosphere that lay within it. There was no surprise when she saw the walls painted deep obsidian, more posters and bumper stickers flatly clinging to the dark paint in similarities to his door, but there were also plenty of his own sketch drawings. She took a few steps in after him, stopping next to a dark sorrel chair that was coated with red paint splatters. Sitting atop the seat, was a tattered Chucky doll that glared forward to nothing in particular, flanking a few hats and a skull decorated back pack. Clusters of pointless trinkets, hats and notebooks piled onto the shelves and beige carpet—though the room was only in disarray toward the walls. His bed was covered in an incredibly deep crimson mattress, the comforter neatly packed beneath the pillows to display a neat portion of the room. A laptop settled on a wooden desk not far from the king sized bed, a simple pair of black converse sneakers falling next to the rolling chair.

Her fingers traced the sketch book placed on the desk, wondering whether or not to switch through the drawings. "Well this is my room" he explained the obvious. She looked over to him.

"I would have never guessed" she replied.

"What don't you like it?" he asked her.

"No I do" she remarked, opening the cover.

"Yeah, it's nothing special though. Neither is this home—at all. It makes my family seem too proper…Ya know? I don't like that, I don't like how we have the biggest house in McKinley and most of all I don't like having these pathetic rules and having to use manners. My family treats me like I'm some sort of angel or something" he retorted with a grunt, watching her as she flipped through the marvelous drawings of corpses, fire and blood; a good majority of the sketches.

She licked her lips and skipped to another page: an unfinished drawing of a dark clothed woman alone in a scenario she couldn't quite figure out. Without further hesitation to her response, she sighed. "I don't get you, Zip."

"What's not to get?"

"You have such a nice…living place and people who actually care about you. But yet you still treat everything like a piece of shit" she grumbled. He chuckled at this, coming to stand beside her.

"I already told you I don't like half of this life style. How come you treat everything like I do? And don't say that you don't, Pip." He explained, using her pet name.

"Let's just say, life at home isn't very…stable" Erin huffed whilst he stared at her. His palette churned into a serious expression, his eyes darkening as they glared into her own optics.

"Is that where you got that split lip?" Ian questioned in a sharp tone, sounding mildly angry. She couldn't control another cough that emitted from her dry throat, avoiding his gaze by averting her eyes back to his drawings.

"I told you we'd talk about this _later_"

"Well it's later now."

She didn't reply, even though she desperately wanted to. Ian didn't need to be involved with the brutal living style of hers, besides, she couldn't be too sure that she could fully trust this guy after one day of talking. No matter how honest he seemed. From the corners of her eyes, she saw him check his phone while he waited, his gaze becoming skeptical.

"One missed call; Erin. Why did you call at 4 in the morning?" he asked her when she closed his drawing book, sighing. "Something must have been wrong then" he told himself more than her.

Finally, she gave in. "My dad" she whispered hoarsely, her gaze remaining to the carpet.

"What?" It took him a little while to respond.

"The split lip…my dad did it." She finished, finally looking up to his rigid form with glazed irises. There was that faint, familiar sting in the back of her eyes, her throat tightening so much that it hurt to even breathe.

"Well did you tell anyone about this?" he asked, taking a few steps forward and placing both hands on her shoulders. Erin inhaled deeply, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

"No, of course not…I was afraid too...and honestly, who the hell would care?" she sobbed, taking a step back. He kept his grip firm upon her, though his fingers were gentle on her skin.

"I WOULD care!" She was shocked at this, her mouth opening, but yet no words coming out. His arms engulfed her tiny, fragile frame soon after he spoke his words, and Erin felt an odd sense of security. More tears cascaded down her cheeks, and every once and a while a quiet sob would escape. As much as she tried to hide the flinch that had occurred when he hugged her, he noticed. "What the hell did he do to you?" he hissed.

"He…he hit me" she stuttered, choosing her words carefully.

"Listen. I don't care if we met a day ago or whatever—if he hurts you again you outta tell me... Alright?" She nodded and pulled away from his grasp, wiping her cheeks free from the mascara and eyeliner tracks that were printed onto her flesh from the tears; slightly embarrassed. "I won't let it happen again."

She held onto those words.

…**.**

**Hope you liked it…Review? **


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